Pompeii: ‘Some of the most important objects uncovered since the 19th century’ go on display in new museum
- The refurbished Antiquarium in Pompeii houses bronze statues, frescoes, gold and silver jewels, and a sorcerer’s toolbox full of amulets and charms
- Also on display are eerie plaster casts of those killed when Vesuvius erupted in October AD79
Decades’ worth of archaeological finds went on public display this week in Pompeii, shedding further light on the ancient Roman city destroyed by a volcanic eruption nearly 2,000 years ago.
One is a sorcerer’s toolbox including dozens of amulets, rings, statuettes and other good luck charms made of ivory, bronze, glazed ceramics and amber – that were clearly not enough to protect the city from doom.
“It’s one of the most peculiar things we found during our excavations: amulets we found in a box in a house … which seem to belong to a woman – or a man, perhaps – who used magic,” said Massimo Osanna, the director of the Pompeii archaeological park near Naples in southern Italy.
He was speaking at the inauguration of the Antiquarium, a refurbished museum housing bronze statues, frescoes, gold and silver jewels as well as haunting plaster casts of those killed when Vesuvius erupted in October AD79.
“You have some of the most important objects uncovered here since the 19th century. So really, this Antiquarium takes you through the centuries of Pompeii’s history, up until the fateful day of the eruption,” said Osanna.